Over 100 Militants Arrested in Saudi Arabia

Saudi soldiers drive an army tank in Al-Khouba in the southern Jizan province, near the border with Yemen, on January 27, 2010.
(PAUL HANDLEY/AFP/Getty)

Saudi Arabia security officials said that they have arrested more than 100 militants suspected of working with al-Qaida to target oil facilities and security forces.

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[It] doesn't mean that sympathy for al-Qaida among a certain percentage of the population has gone away--it's there. But I would say, overall the majority of Saudis have no sympathy for al-Qaida.

— Caryle Murphy

Almost half of the arrested are from Saudi Arabia, and the rest are from Yemen, Somalia, Eritrea and Bangledesh. Brian O'Neill, an independent analyst and expert on Yemen security, says that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is taking advantage of the instability in Yemen to set up base camps there. We discuss these arrests and whether this changes the game-plan for the war on terror. And Global Post reporter, Caryle Murphy joins us from Sauid Arabia.